Johnstone Muthama, Moses Kuria arrested in fresh police crackdown on hate speech

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama were Monday arrested by police in fresh police crackdown on claims of hate speech.

Kuria was picked up from the Central Business District in the city while Muthama was arrested in his Tala home, Kangundo. They were both driven to DCI headquarters where they were held and grilled for hours.

Police also raised the private offices of Mathare MP Anthony Oluoch over claims they wanted him for grilling. Oluoch was said to be away at the time of the raid on his office in the CBD.

“I have reported this matter to the LSK because the visitation amounts to harassment because of my work.” said Oluoch.

Kuria was the first to be arrested by detectives from Flying Squad and taken for grilling. Muthama was also later nabbed and brought to Nairobi.

Former Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama

Muthama is said to have made his remarks on Sunday in Kitengela during a rally held by NASA. A clip of his speech has widely been shared in the social media.

It was not immediately clear what the officers at DCI headquarters will charge the two with. A group of MPs led by Nairobi Woman Rep visited DCI headquarters on hearing the news of the arrests.

Kuria, once again triggered public outrage with an abusive attack on Opposition leader Raila Odinga and the National Super Alliance. In a live stream on his Facebook page, the MP hurled insults at Raila and his family, using obscene words that cannot be published.

Other insiders said Jubilee wanted to strip Kuria of his ticket and membership.

The offensive utterances, disguised as criticism of the Opposition leader whom he said had become a headache to the Jubilee administration, were uttered at a rally in Kiambu in the company of Governor Ferdinand Waititu and Limuru MP Peter Mwathi. Mr Kuria complained that some 100,000 people in Kiambu voted for the NASA presidential candidate and urged the crowd to look for those opposition voters and present them to him 'accompanied by their grandmothers'.

The MP, who has a history of indulging in hate speech, begun by asking the crowd whether they believed the August 8 elections were rigged, as claimed by Raila. He then hurled obscenities at Raila and criticised the ruling by the Supreme Court nullifying President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory.

He dismissed the four judges who nullified the vote, questioning how four people could render the over eight million votes cast in favour of Uhuru useless in just five minutes. Kuria attacked Raila's public criticism of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, saying it would not matter whether he (Raila) put his family to oversee the elections since Jubilee would win.

Speaking in Kikuyu, he said: "We gave birth to a baby. That baby did not die in the womb or in the maternity. It had started breastfeeding but he came and killed the baby. Would you forgive such a person?" asked Kuria.

Kuria declared he was ready to face the consequences over his attack on Raila. "For how long will Raila pester us? Let me get jailed. Where will they take me? Who were the prisons built for? Wasn't Mandela jailed and released?" he asked.